| Use the Magic Lens to reveal what the handwriting in old documents says. |
To learn more about how to read handwritten documents from the past, check out How To Read Old Documents.
Bill of sale for Kate
Use the Magic Lens to reaveal the writing of this document — a bill of sale for the 1734 purchase by Israel Williams of Hatfield, Massachusetts, of a child named Kate.
Bill of sale for an enslaved boy named Prince
Use the Magic Lens to reveal the text of this bill of sale that records the transaction that made nine-year-old Prince a “Servant for life.”
Complaint against Caesar for stealing
This legal complaint against “Cæsar a Labourer & Servant” of Nathaniel Dickinson of Deerfield, Massachusetts reveals that resistance to slavery in New England took many forms.
Emancipation Proclamation Portrait of Abraham Lincoln
This handwritten document contains the full text of Lincoln’s historic “Emancipation Proclamation” while taking the form of a portrait of this famous president.
Indenture of Sarah Green
Use the Magic Lens to reveal the text of this indenture, or contract, between three citizens of Deerfield, Massachusetts, members of the local Overseers of the Poor, and Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams, also of Deerfield, concerning the future welfare of eight-year-old Sarah Green.
Letter from John Pynchon
Use the Magic Lens to read the December 1694 letter from John Pynchon to the secretary of the Massachusetts Bay Council in Boston. It describes the situation of the garrison at Deerfield, and warns of the danger of an attack.